Thursday, July 17, 2014

It's time to do something about the stacks of paper collecting dust in your
home office, attic and other rooms.
If you don’t need those old mortgage loan documents, checks, credit cards,
bank statements and tax forms, shred them – today. It’s for your own good.
Commercial shredders will be waiting from 9 a.m. to noon today during a Community Shred Event at the Ikea parking
lot, 8300 Ikea Blvd. Bring up to three banker boxes, along with outdated
prescription medications, says District 4 Charlotte City Council member Greg Phipps, one of the event's hosts.
Identity theft is a problem nationally, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department handles roughly 3,000 cases annually.
“There’s always a problem of someone getting ahold of documentation that they
can use to open an account,” said Sgt. Walter Bowling of CMPD. “You’re making it
easy on the criminal to gain your information if you’re not shredding.”
Identity theft can include fraudulent check cashing, check and credit card
counterfeiting, opening accounts in someone else’s name or taking out loans.
The risks for consumers goes beyond what we throw out. Burglars might take
documents and credit cards. Traffickers can use technology to sell your
information online or make transactions.

Learn more while you’re dumping those old papers today. “It’s not just for
shredding,” Bowling said. “We’re hoping to raise awareness.”

7
comments:

This is such a great idea, I wish my area had something like this. As it is, I have to find other other ways to shred my documents. But, the more I learn about identity theft, the more important I know it is. Hopefully officials in other cities will follow this example and will continue to educate people and raise awareness about identity theft and how to prevent it. document shredding southern california

Making sure that documents are properly shredded is essential in preventing identity theft. I think that it makes for greater peace of mind as well to know they are shredded properly. My father in-law is looking for a place to shred some of his company's documents securely. Cynthia | http://www.abcmovingnc.com/shredding.htm

It is interesting that the day you shred documents makes a difference. I try to be as careful as possible with my customers' sensitive information. I usually do most of my shredding on Friday. I come in for a couple of hours on Saturday, so it would be easy to make the switch. http://www.sugarhousearchives.com

If you look in the dictionary for shredding experts, you’ll see a picture of Saxon Archives! My company based in West Palm Beach had confidential documents that needed to be properly disposed so we contacted them. Their mobile shredding truck came and took care of the documents in no time. Great service, highly recommended! Check out their website at www.palmbeacharchive.com/mobile-shredding/

I was never very good about shredding vital documents until I opened my own business. Then I really began to understand the kind of information that could just be laying in garbage can. Now I'm very conscientious about the documents I leave lying around. | http://www.vitalrecordscontrol.com

Huge stacks of old documents are sitting in my office filing cabinet right now. I procrastinate so much when it comes to shredding my old documents. It's because when I was a kid one of the jobs I hated to do was shred my dad's old documents. He would give me a huge stack of paper to shred and I would end up spending my whole Saturday shredding paper. Do you know if there are any types of services that will shred your documents for you?http://www.filefindersltd.com

Ever since I was little my dad has taught me the importance of shredding documents that aren't needed but have personal information on them. The last thing you want to do is throw a document that has personal information on it and it gets in the hands of someone who isn't honest. It sounds silly, but things like this are important to take seriously.

Karen Sullivan

About this blog

Karen Sullivan is a writer and editor for The Charlotte Observer's SmarterLiving section. In print and online, SmarterLiving looks at new products, the latest technology and "green" trends for your home. Join us here on Homelife to learn more about people (and places) who inspire us to make life at home better.